Sheet-packing.



V. TOMPKINS.

SHEET PAOKING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1908.

920,502, Patented May 4, 1909.

INVEIVTOR,

. ATTORNE Y.

1m: NORRI5 PETERS cc. wAsHmcroIv. a. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VREELAND TOMPKINS, OF JERSEY CITY,

NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO SMOOTH-ON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY,NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SHEET-PACKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 30, 1908.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Serial No. 424,132.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, V REELAND TOMPKINS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Jersey City, Hudson county, New Jersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Im provement in Sheet-Packing; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, ref erence being had to theaccompanying drawing, and to letters of reference marked thereon, whichform a part of this specification.

My invention relates to means for packing metal joints, such as thejoints of hydraulic, steam or other similar metallic pipes orconductors, where hermetic inclosing of the liquid conducted thereby isrequired, and it has reference particularly to sheet packing.

The object of the invention is to provide a packing which may have awide range of application to the different purposes for which an articleof the general nature indicated is likely to be called into use andwhich shall therefore possess, among other qualities, the ability toresist deterioration by heat or moisture and the effects of such gasesas the metal of the conductors themselves may be calculated towithstand.

In carrying out my invention, I apply to a sheet of preferably pliablematerial, such as a woven fabric, a substance containing in relativelylarge proportion an oxidizable metal, preferably iron, in a more or lessfinely divided condition, and also containing an in gredient calculatedto serve as a convenient and practical vehicle for the application ofthe metallic p articles. It will be understood that the ingredientreferred to may very appropriately be a viscous liquid adapted, onhardening after application, to possess a certain degree of elasticityas well as of strength, whereby the finished product can be subjected toa reasonable amount of bending, distending or other extraordinary strainwithout affecting materially the continuity of the metal-laden body withwhich the sheet is treated, it being remarked that, in general, it isimportant that said body present such unbroken and substantial formationafter it has once set that were the fabric, for instance, entirelydestroyed, it would still remain intact throughout; the finished productshould, furthermore, not lack a certain degree of compressibility, whichquality may be derived from the fabric, or the metal-laden substance, orfrom both, the object of this being to cause the packing to adapt itselfto surface irregularities of the bodies between which the packing isplaced. A common type of fabric employed in the manufacture of packingis woven from asbestos fibers, asbestos being desirable, of course,because of its heat resisting and other qualities which make it welladapted to the purpose; I employ pref erably woven asbestos as thefabric material of my packing and when this is so used it will be foundthat, in addition to securing the advantages above alluded to, themetal-laden substance which forms one of the essential features of thisinvention will act to render the asbestos proof against moisture,strengthen the packing as a whole and protect the Wire filaments withwhich, for certain reasons, the asbestos fabric may be reinforced.

I shall now proceed to describe my invention with specific reference tothe preferred form thereof.

Figure 1, in the accompanying drawing, shows a fragment of asbestosfabric partially treated with the metal-laden substance; Fig. 2 is asectional view of what is shown in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 shows a pipe-joint insection having my improved packing applied thereto.

a in the drawing, Fig. 3, designates the packing.

b in Figs. 1 and 2 designates the asbestos fabric and c the metal ladensubstance.

The fabric a, whose main function in the present invention is to serveas a support for the metal-laden substance I), is preferably anopen-mesh fabric, the idea being to reserve in the fabric a relativelylarge proportion of space so that when the metal-laden substance c isapplied it may be worked freely through the fabric and between thestrands or threads thereof and thus the desired'con- .tinuity of saidsubstance as a layer-like body such metal-laden substance can be appliedto 5 tion will at once be set up with respect to the the fabric; it ispreferred that the liquid should have the quality, after the substanceis applied to the fabric, to produce a more or less permanent binding ofthe particles together and to the fabric, for which reason the liquidshould be viscous one. Accordingly, in the adaptation of my inventionnow being specifically referred to, I mix a large proportion of powderedoxidizable iron (and, in general, the more "finely divided the particlesof this powder are, the better) with a solution comprising rubber orcaoutchouc and a solvent thereof, such as benzin. This substance hasabout the consistency of paint. The proportions are by weight and are:4.8% rubber, 43.2% benzin, 144.00% iron particles. it is applied to thefabric 0 with a brush or other suitable implement, and should. bewell'worked into the meshes of the fabric sufficiently so that it willper re trate or ooze'through the fabric and appear on its opposite face;preferably the fabric is then coated on said opposite face with thesubstance 7), again. working the latter into the meshes of the fabricthoroughly. One or more applications may be employed, accord ing tothe'particular purpose for which the packing is to be used. Theresulting product will be substantially what is shown best in Figs. 1and 2 the salient feature of the prodnot will be a layer-like body 0having a large proportion of comminuted oxidizable iron particles in astate of distribution through the now set or hardened rubber solution.The said product will be capable, on compression, of yielding toirregularities in the surfaces between which the packing may be placed,due largely to the broken or divided condition of its metal constituent,whereby each particle retains a limited degree of 3010- bility, as wellas also, of course, to the fabric and to the material (such as therubber substance) affording the means for binding the particles togetherand to the fabric; so that the packing is Well adapted to serve itsfundamental purpose as a means for hermetically closing joints.

I am awarethat red oxid of iron has been applied in the manufacture ofpacking to asbestos and similar fabrics; but my invention is tobedistinctly differentiated from anything of that nature, for the reasonthat in that case the iron, having passed through the process ofoxidation, is dead and inert, whereas the live or active principle ofoxidation remains according to the present invention to perform valuablefunctions after the packing has been put to service. For instance, onintroducing a gasket (1, of my packing between the rings 0 forming thejoint portions of pipes f and clamping them together by means of thebolts g and nuts 7i, oncemoisture comes in contact with the ironparticles of the packing, a condition of oxidairon particles in thepacking, forming an annular excrescence i at the inner seam between therings 6, and producing a kind of swelling or expansion of the packingwherever the moisture penetrates this hermet icallyseals off anyinterstice both by completely filling every space or leak-opening whichmight otherwise be left and by, in effect, knitting the two rings 6together as one, and even should the excrescence of rust thus producedbe broken away at any point, it will start to form anew. Again, a jointprovided with a packing of the nature of that herein particularlydescribed will be hermetically tight, without regard to the oxidizingquality of its iron constituent, because of the impermeable character ofthe material in which the powdered metal is bound; the integrity of thejoint in this particular depends largely, of course, on the thoroughnessof the impregnation of the fabric, and if this impregnation is properlyeffected, so that the fabric is not merely coated with the metal-ladensubstance, the joint will be proof against all leakage, even under highhydraulic pressures.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a packing for pipe joints and the likeconsisting of a sheet-like support and a layer-like body ad heringthereto and comprising an oxidizable metal in comminuted form,substantially as described.

2. As an article of manufacture, a packing for pipe joints and the likeconsisting of a sheet-like support and a lever-like body adheringthereto and comprising oxidizable iron. in comminuted form,substantially as described.

3. As an article of manufacture, a packing for pipe joints andthe likeconsisting of a permeable sheet-like support and a layerlike bodyapplied in impregnating disposition on said support and comprising anoxidizable metal in comminuted form, substantially as described. I i

e. As an article of manufacture, a packing for pipe joints and the likeconsistingof a permeable sheet-like support and a layerlike body appliedin impregnating disposition on said support and comprising oxidizableiron in comminuted form, substantially as described.

5. As an article of manufacture, a sheet packing for pipe joints and thelike having a copious interspersion of oxidizable metal in comminutedform, the respective particles of the metal being distributed andmaintained in a normally fixed state, substantially as described.

6. As an article of manufacture, a sheet packingfor pipe joints and thelike comprisin powdered oxidizable metal and a viscous substancemaintaining the respective metallic particles distributed and in anormally fixed state, substantially as described.

7. As an article of manufacture, a sheet packing for pipe joints and thelike comprising a pliable support, powdered oxidizable metal and aviscous substance applied to said support and maintaining the respectivemetallic particles distributed and in a normally fixed state,substantially as described.

8. As an article of manufacture, a sheet packing for pipe joints and thelike comstantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this26th day of March, 1908.

VREELAND TOMPKINS.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. STEWARD, WM. D. BELL.

Correction in Letters Patent No 920,502.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 920,502", grantedMay/1;, 1909,.

upon the application of Vreeland Tompkins, of Jersey City, New Jersey,for an improvement in Sheet-Packing, an error appears in the printedspecification requiring correction, as follows: In line 104, page 2, thecompound word lever-like should read layer-like; and that the saidLetters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the samemay conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 8th day of June, A. 1)., 1909.

.[SEAL] o. o. BILLINGS,

Acting Commissioner of Patents

